Last day today and it was mostly a day to pack up and return home. We did stop along the North Toe River between Yancey & Mitchell Counties, NC to stretch our legs and a few boys walked down to the river to throw rocks. Pretty typical boy stuff.

We stopped at a place in Burnsville, NC for a milkshake. This was a treat earned by the boys for getting a sincere compliment the night before at Cracker Barrel restaurant. We also took a few moments to present the boys with a MTA carabiner or flashlight as a token of appreciation for their being such good campers.

And so wraps up another trip and another MTA season. I hope I'll see these boys on another MindStretch adventure in the future. It was a great experience.

It was Dollywood today and as expected the kids loved it. I kind of hate to have their favorite activity be a theme park, but perhaps they’ll remember the hiking around Linville Falls, the gemstone mining, the drive-in movie, the candy store in Jonesborough, the rafting on Watauga River, or the tour of Linville Caverns. Maybe even they’ll remember their first drive-in movie. And of course we hope they’ll remember the fun of just being with friends. So Dollywood was great. We stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel on the way home from Dollywood and picked up our first real compliment of the trip. So that means they’ll get a treat before we wrap things up on Thursday. We finished the day with a night swim for about half the boys. The rest of the guys were chillin’ in their rooms.

It was another great day.

Don't forget to check out photos on either our Facebook page or at: www.flickr.com/photos/mindstretch.

We had another busy day with several crowd-pleasing activities. I haven’t mentioned food during these posts because the meals aren’t necessarily memorable…but no one is going hungry. We do start each day with a continental breakfast in the hotel. Years ago a continental breakfast meant a roll with jam and something to drink. These days hotels which serve this style of breakfast really have worked to improve the offerings. Today for example, in addition to the make-it-yourself waffle complete with a half-dozen or more toppings…they had six or more cereals to choose from, fruit, sweet rolls, muffins, bagels, scrambled eggs, bacon, four kinds of juice. Okay, you get the picture. Back to our agenda, we had our usual gathering of the masses to make sure everyone’s counted for and after that we normally start off on our rounds of activities. This morning we had a decision to make. We had originally planned to go the original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, NC and from there to “The Candy Barrel.” This particular activity had been planned for Monday but we had to rearrange activities because of a set time we were expected at Linville Caverns. But now that a day had passed…and the kids had experienced what true mountain curvy road driving in vans feels like…so we gave them the option to spend the morning hours instead driving over to nearby Jonesborough, TN (just ten minutes away) to visit a candy store there. Jonesborough is Tennessee’s oldest town and the downtown is an historic district. They voted for the Jonesborough option and weren’t disappointed. We figured they weren’t all that interested in the Mast Store since “replicas” can be found in Greenville and Asheville. We knew their main interest was in the candy store…and “The Lollipop Shoppe” in Jonesborough was a suitable replacement. I think we did the shop’s usual week of business sales in just under an hour. The boys were happy. We did spend some time in the Jonesborough visitor center which houses a museum and gift shop and then walked down the main street for a couple of blocks. Most of the other stores weren’t yet open…but the candy store made up for all of that. Jonesborough is the home of the National Storytelling Festival the first weekend of October. This is a world-class event that families would enjoy, so you might want to consider this as a future family possibility. After Jonesborough and lunch in Johnson City we headed over to Elizabethton, TN (about 20 minutes away) for our rafting trip with USA Raft on the Watauga River. We were originally scheduled to raft on the Nolichucky River but it’s completely dependent on the natural flow of the river and it had been too dry to produce much of a ride. So the Watauga was substituted since it’s a dam-controlled river with predictable water levels. The boys enjoyed this nearly two-hour ride on mostly class 1 and 2 rapids with a class 3 thrown in for good measure. Our evening’s entertainment was a minor league baseball game between the Elizabethton Twins and the Johnson City Cardinals. These are “rookie” league teams made up of young players usually 18-23 years old. As is always the case, some boys love to watch baseball and others prefer to do anything but. So, a minor league game is the perfect answer to that. The stadium is small enough for kids to walk around and check things out and others can watch the game and all can do a combination of both. This was dollar night so hotdogs, popcorn, and even the tickets were just a dollar. What a bargain! By the time we left, one boy had a baseball, a couple had t-shirts, and several had been invited on the field for crowd-pleasing silly games. William won the “musical chairs” game and came home with a cowbell. It has been another long day so we left sometime during the eighth inning with Elizabethton trailing. It was another good day.

We had a busy, fun-filled day on Monday. We started with a visit to Linville Caverns with a guided tour. Our group was divided into two sets each with a guide who attempted to mix some cavern humor with history and science. From the caverns it was off to Linville Falls for a short hike to see the falls and Linville River in the gorge. Next on the schedule was gemstone mining at Emerald Village where everyone struck it rich. After the mining, we toured the open part of the old mine. This particular mine was a feldspar mine which was, years ago, used in Bon Ami cleansing powder. And finally, we held a bowling tournament with some cash payoffs to the high scorer in each lane as well as overall top scorer. Winners were: Jesse, Kiril, Rafe, Stewart, and William. Jesse and Kiril tied for high scorer with 117. And yes, they were using the bumpers.

Great start to what will be a wonderful five-day session in the mountains of Tennessee. Highlights included the successful completion of a team-building challenge earning the boys a treat. And we cashed in that treat later in the evening at a Drive-In Movie, the Stateline Drive-In Theater near Elizabethton, TN. We saw "Inside Out." This was the first drive-in movie for all the boys. It was a beautiful night under the stars. Thie outdoor movie has been in continuous operation since 1947.

We're looking forward to a great week with jam-packed days of adventure.

Like the rest of our camp friends, MindStretch Travel Adventures will be e-free beginning in 2016. We have discouraged use of electronics starting with our North Carolina Mountains trip that just ended. Only a couple of boys brought phones and what a difference it made. Kids were talking more, playing more, having more fun.

Now boys don't worry...since we do stay in hotels there is a TV you "could" turn on...but why?

Every year we've had parents ask about our electronics policy. We've always discouraged their use...and limited their use to non-activity times. But we've discovered these non-activity are some of the best times for kids to start up great conversations so we're happy to announce our part in reclaiming boyhood.

Time to say goodbye to 23 wonderful boys and five fantastic leaders. We did one last activity to wrap this trip up and that was a visit to Sliding Rock in Pisgah National Forest. Only a handful of boys wanted to brave the cold water of the Davidson River at 10:30 in the morning...but those hearty souls had a blast. We also had to say goodbye here to our new friend, Eli(jah) who was being picked up at this spot.From here it was home with a quick stop at a convenience store for a snack and to let off leader Andy Lammers and camper Jackson.And now, all boys and leaders are home and it's time to say goodbye to this group. It was a great week with lots of amazing experiences.

Our last full day was incredible. We spent almost the entire day at Nantahala Outdoor Center. The morning was spent on a ropes challenge course and zip line. Many boys had never experienced either and it was a great confidence builder. It was rafting time after lunch and again this was a new experience for many of the boys. Each of our rafts had a professional guide, which made for a safe, wet, and fun trip down the Nantahala.We returned to our hotel for a swim and then dinner with Mac leading a game of Cherokee Indian trivia with the winning team picking up a little cash.The weather was perfect today as it has been our entire week. Well, except for a couple of showers when we were conveniently situated indoors.

Check out our Facebook page for photos from the trip. Or, in a day or two you can find all the photos and captions on our Flickr site at: www.flickr.com/photos/mindstretch.

Another beautiful day in the mountains. Just over half the kids opted for a horseback ride in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park while the others chose to sleep in a bit. It was the first horseback riding experience for many of the boys and leaders. After the riders returned, we gathered the group together and finally had our "shopping for souvenirs" day in Cherokee. Parents be ready for some crazy purchases involving sharp objects!We had an afternoon swim for most of the boys though one opted for a visit to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Finally, after our Chinese buffet dinner...we headed back into the National Park for a little hiking up to the top of Clingmans Dome - the highest point in the Smokies. Elevation is about 6,640 feet there and we had stunning views. The temperature dropped over 20 degrees from the time we left Cherokee to the time we made it to Clingmans Dome. Another highlight of day 5 was getting to see a large herd of elk - about 10 or 11 of these majestic animals. What a day!

We had another fun-filled day on Wednesday starting with a visit to the Oconaluftee Indian Village. This "living museum" gave us a fascinating look at the early lives of the Cherokee. We had a guide who took us through six stations where he talked about each topic including weaponry and hunting, bead making, basketbaking, pottery making, etc. While he was explaining, other members of the Cherokee Nation were demonstrating the actual skills. There were plenty of good questions from the boys. After these six stations, there were other stations we visited that were also being hosted by Native Americans. From here it was lunch and then a couple of hours of bowling in the town of Sylva. We bowled two games. The second one had some cash waiting for high score winners for each of our five lanes and for the overall high scorer. Jackson Lammers ended up being total high scorer.Back to the hotel for some swim time, then out to dinner, and we finished with a two-hour dramatic outdoor production of "Unto These Hills." This drama relates the life of the Cherokee from the pre-1800s through the "Trail of Tears." We learned about the relocation of most of the Cherokee from our area to Oklahoma and how it came to be that some were allowed to remain. Those remaining make up the Eastern Band of the Cherokee and their descendants live here today.We got to meet one of the cast members, Mark HIghsmith, who was a two-trip MindStretch Travel Adventures camper. It was a great day!

Some of our guys with Mark Highsmith, a cast member in "Unto These Hills." Mark was a two-time MTA camper a few years back (Wyoming-Montana in 2008 & Europe in 2009.)